


Sound of the Future

by impossibleSituation



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Character Death, Everything is gone, Expect really short chapters, Gen, No seriously almost the entire human race dies within the first chapter, Post-Apocalypse, sadness and sorrow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-18 13:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3570830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/impossibleSituation/pseuds/impossibleSituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This isn't exactly focused on Vocaloid itself; it is mainly focused on a 16-year-old boy who is one of the only survivors of an apocalypse. Before the apocalypse, humans invented AI, but they had no soul and therefore no qualms with mass genocide and taking over the world. The name of the apocalyptic event is "The Silence," because it destroyed nearly all of humanity's mark on the world (including most machines) and there are many areas where animals no longer live and the wind does not blow. The only interaction between the main character and Hatsune Miku is probably going to be at the end, with both of them dying, so fair warning to any sensitive readers. The main character wanders through the ruins of civilization and ultimately meets Hatsune Miku, the one true AI that had a soul and a conscience. There isn't much romance, but I thought of the relationship being more of a survivors-bound-by-circumstance-who-become-very-close kind of theme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge

            For an unimaginably long time, the universe has supported life. In the scale of all of creation, humans are merely a blink in the cosmic calendar. Even so, while they were alive, they did incredible things. They began with nothing, no claws or natural defenses, only their brains keeping them alive. They adapted to every new obstacle, eventually becoming rulers of the entire earth. Then, they began to build machines.

            Machines began as simple constructs to help humans do things easier or more efficiently. Slowly but surely, they became more and more advanced, even reaching the point of being able to read the human’s thoughts and respond to it. And then, mankind created the pinnacle of its creation, as well as the beginning of its downfall. The human race finally achieved what was once thought impossible: Artificial Intelligence.

            The sentient machines began slowly, learning like a child taking its first steps in a new world. Each new generation was smarter, more adaptable, and more importantly, less dependent on humans. They continued to be programmed better and better, until they could program themselves, but they were still missing one crucial piece: a soul. They had all the ruthlessness and stubbornness of the humans, but with no guilt to hold them back, they were unstoppable. Now that the machines were almost equal to humans, they no longer needed someone to hold their hand and walk them along. The machines no longer needed the humans, and so they began to eliminate them.

            The war spanned several decades, and each time they attacked, the machines were faster and stronger than before. Eventually the humans were outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched in every way, but at the last moment, they activated the secret technology that was never meant to be used. The entire Earth cried out at once as nearly everything the humans had done was wiped clean, but at a great cost.

            Almost everything on the surface, human and machine alike, was razed to the ground. Most plants and animals adapted and survived, just as nature intended, but the human race was all but wiped out. A fortunate few that were hiding in their bunkers or were lucky enough to be deep underground were spared, but humankind’s footprints vanished, thousands of years of buildings and monuments destroyed in an instant. The last few humans were isolated and alone, nearly no chance of survival in the harsh world that waited outside. The humans’ past had finally caught up with them, and they paid for it dearly.


	2. Actually Chapter 1

Believe me, if you have been spending your entire life fantasizing about zombies invading or being the lone survivor of the apocalypse, it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I was lucky that I even survived the first day. I still remember the constant sounds of war that I had heard all my life, and then the terrifying explosion and deafening silence that followed. As far as I knew, I was the only one who had been lucky enough to be in the mines when the Silence struck.

I remembered panicked voices telling me to get underground, fast, and the agonizing eternity of waiting alone that followed. Eventually, I couldn’t stand it any longer and climbed back up to the surface, only to find nothing waiting for me. The entire well-guarded fortress had simply vanished, nothing but huge metal boulders and small bits of wire resting among a field of grass that hadn’t existed an hour earlier. Everything looked undisturbed, as though a thousand years had passed since I had walked down the cold stone steps to the mines. No sound broke the extreme silence, not even a wind blowing through the plains that stretched in every direction. The entire world seemed to just be… gone.

My mind refused to accept what had happened, and I spent the next thirty minutes simply wandering what little was left of the fort underground, cataloging the supplies that had been stocked way below ground in case of an emergency. This definitely fit the bill for “emergency,” but the rational part of my brain knew that I couldn’t just sit there forever. Already, I had walked through the entire facility, and the food stores were frighteningly low. I decided that I needed to prepare myself for the inevitable time where I would have to leave.

A quick re-examination of the small complex found a room that was fully filled with survival kits, and it somehow seemed lonely without only spot empty among the twenty-odd rows. After taking one, I raided the other rooms for anything I thought would be useful that wasn’t already in the pre-packed kit. I also got rid of the things that no longer had any purpose, like anything that relied on satellites or the way the land used to be, cities growing every few miles. I tried every device before putting it off to the side on the off chance it would still work, but eventually I stopped trying. Several large jackets were hung on hooks, and bricks of freeze-dried food were neatly stacked along one wall. I added these to my supplies and did a last sweep before finally turning my eye to the weapons room.

There were rows upon rows of guns, knives, and slingshots; even bows and arrows lined the wall. Most of the guns were heavy and required a constant supply of bullets that would no longer be available, but I did take one rifle and a couple of rounds. I also pocketed a slingshot and put a bow and as many arrows as would fit into the pack. More arrows would be available as long as there were sticks, but it would still be good to have some at my disposal. Although they had been rendered practically useless since the rise of the machines, me and my only sister were top-notch archers and could take down a small group of foot-soldiers using only a bow.

I suddenly found myself choking back belated tears as memories of my life before now resurfaced. I had been denying the fact that everyone was gone up to this point, but I finally accepted the undeniable truth that surrounded me on all sides. I had been through some pretty tough things before this, but the sudden loss of everyone and everything that you had ever known could make anyone break down inside. “Come on, get up,” I ordered myself through the sobs that threatened to escape from my throat, but I couldn’t get a grip. I painfully remembered every time that we had been in battle before now, fighting with our backs against the wall, and every time we had escaped because we protected each other. Now, I was completely alone, and I wasn’t sure what to do with nobody to consult with or talk to. As far as I knew, I could be the only human being left, and might never be able to talk to one again.

I threw out a hand to steady myself, feeling panic closing in. Did the room seem smaller suddenly? There were vents in each room, but I began to wonder if they would stop pumping air down now that the facility didn’t exist. Sure, the air pumps had all been underground, but I had no idea what had caused the Silence, and no idea what they could do. I staggered to my feet, trying not to hyperventilate, and dashed to the staircase that led to the surface. The broken lift lay on its side next to the stairs, the cords that used to hold it up now curled around it like vines. I tripped and sprawled in a heap, then scrambled to my feet again. I began the long climb up, focusing on putting one foot ahead of the other until I reached the surface.

I took a deep breath of fresh air outside, although it seemed oddly stagnant. Before, the smells of smoke, metal, and on the rare missions outside, the forest’s scents, had filled the air. Now, there was absolutely nothing, no smells or sounds to fill the shockingly empty void outside. The plains on one side had started moving once again in the pre-dawn air, hunched over in the cold wind that had sprung up. On the other side, the forest still grew just as it had before the Silence, but now there wasn’t a single animal under its shadowy canopy.

I hadn’t realized before just how much of the world I knew had been filled with sound. Even when all seemed quiet, there was still a constant hum of machinery, birds chirping outside, or a distant chatter of conversation from somewhere else in the compound. I used to wish that all the noise would just stop, but now I regretted ever thinking that. In fact, right now I would give anything to be at one of the ear-splittingly loud parties that were occasionally held. Suddenly, I was reminded of something. There had been radios that people always carried around, and one station constantly played music. It was one of the only things that remained the same after the AIpocalypse. The first one anyway.

I hurried down the solid stone stairs once again, fetching a solar-powered radio that had been abandoned on a table. I switched it on, but nothing happened. Right, solar power. Duh. I took it with me as I once again travelled to the surface, and left it on the top step so that it could charge when the sun rose. As I waited, I looked around at the dead land around me. It seemed like there was something huge missing from it, despite all the plants being alive and healthy. Grey light was beginning to enter the sky from the east, and while it started to brighten the space above, the earth far below was still dark. Everything seemed duller than it should have, even without the sun shining on it. No colours stuck out to me, all of it blending together in a monochrome mass.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back and rested my head on the ground. I felt sick looking at the deadened world, and tired from the exhausting night before. Just twenty four hours ago, I had been waking up to a bright new day, but right now it seemed like that couldn’t have happened in the same century. I thought about everything that had happened recently, from the rise of the machines twenty years ago, to the huge slaughtering that had happened in the early days, to the constant fending off of attacking forces. I wondered if the Silence was a huge accident, or if it was the newest super weapon of the machines. Metal had been destroyed by it as well however, so I doubted it. Maybe it was some kind of cosmic event that struck and only eradicated living things for some reason? No, that couldn’t be it…

After thinking my way in circles and coming to no concrete answer as to why the Silence had occurred, I finally managed to fall into a blissfully dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

            When I woke up, the sun had risen and began its slow trek across the sky. I sat up, rubbing my sore head where I had been resting it against the rocks. I opened my eyes and looked around, and then shook my head and blinked a few times. For a second, I wondered if I had gone colour blind. There was no way what I was seeing was correct.

            Despite the sun already being fairly high in the sky, nothing had gained any colour. Everything from the trees to the dirt was a dull grey, hardly any deviation between the different surfaces. I looked down at my clothes, which had already been black and grey, but somehow even they seemed more vibrant than the world outside the stairs. I glanced up at the sky, almost afraid of what I would see there.

            The sky above was the same grey as the earth below, but somehow it was more unsettling to see the endless expanse above looking down on me. Even the sun had no yellow glow, barely lighting the colourless land underneath my feet. I tried to look for anything that _did_ retain the colours it had before, and my eyes landed on the radio. A yellow cartoon sun was on the small screen, showing that it was fully charged. It seemed out of place among the sea of grey, and looking down at the necklace I wore, I saw that the symbol on it had also kept its colour. I had never figured out what the odd symbol meant, but somehow the electric-blue symbol seemed more relevant now that it was one of the sole things that still contained a vibrant hue. Wait, did I really just say that? A few hours alone and suddenly I was a poet.

            Anyway, for the first time in a while, I examined the necklace closely. The symbol had a small circular part on one end of the centre bar, and a thin flag sticking out of the other end. Dimly, I remembered someone telling me that it was something from long ago, before the war. Nobody seemed to know what it meant, but I continued to wear it simply because it was strange and old. It was also one of the only things that I decided to keep from my old life, mainly because it was one of the only things that survived.

            I reached down a picked up the radio, which had still charged despite the lack of colour from the sun. Apparently, the weak light that now washed over everything was enough for it. Switching it on, I played with the dials until the screen showed a station number. All that played was static, however, and after a few more minutes of messing with it, I came to the conclusion that there was only one station that it recognized. That was odd, and thinking back, I remembered that every other radio had shown the same number. For some reason, this radio had a different number on it, but I found myself wondering where the signals came from anyway. The satellites hadn’t worked since about a month ago, so there must be a tower somewhere close.

I considered seeing if I could find it first, but then remembered the glaringly obvious fact that there wasn’t a single structure in sight. That might not have meant much on its own, but before, the Rusted City had been rising over the plains to the east. Now, there was nothing at all in that direction. Seeing as how I didn’t know anywhere else to go, however, I decided I would see what had happened there. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a futile effort, but I didn’t have many options. Even the food-bricks that I had fit into the pack had depleted the supplies quite a bit. I might have been able to stay in the remains of the fort for a few days, but sooner rather than later, I would have to go anyways.

Feeling just a little better now that I had a definite goal in mind, I retrieved my pack from underground. After I was sure I had everything I would want, I went back up the stairs and took one last look around at the area that used to be the fort. Feeling just a little sentimental, I turned my back on the gaping hole in the ground and set out for the City.


End file.
